Comic-Con: Jeff Parker Talks Red Hulk in the Middle East

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The creative team talks about Red Hulk's next adventure.

By Joey Esposito

Jeff Parker's Hulk title has been firing on all cylinders since he took over the book in 2010. As announced earlier this week at San Diego Comic-Con, Parker and artist Patrick Zircher will be sending Red Hulk to the Middle East in a journey of epic proportions. We got a chance to talk with the creators about what's in store for the former General 'Thunderbolt' Ross.

IGN Comics: It'll be interesting to see Red Hulk head to the Middle East with his military background. Will his history as a General play into the events at all, perhaps more than they have up until now?

Jeff Parker: Yes, specifically his history with other military figures. In particular, an old friend has been killed in a conflict which even General Ross doesn't think he should have been involved in. But now Red Hulk will involve himself.

IGN: How will Red Hulk's role as an Avenger be affected by this new development in the Middle East? Will it come to blows between himself and Cap?

Parker: Captain America is far from okay with a Hulk heading to a global hotspot to exact retribution, I'll say that!

IGN: Fortean is an interesting parallel to Ross's old role as the thorn in the side of Bruce Banner. How will Ross and Banner's relationship change as Fortean becomes more of a threat?

Parker: That's a good question. The irony of it all is not lost on Ross. He's starting to realize just what he was putting Banner through all those years. Whether he's willing to admit it to Bruce though, that remains to be seen.

IGN: What can you tell us about Sultan Magus? What's his beef with Red Hulk?

Parker: Red Hulk is just one more outsider involving himself in a world where he doesn't belong, to Dagan Shah, who now has the power that makes him Sultan Magus. But he's far from being a simplistic villain, he makes a special effort to understand his new enemy. He understands what power knowledge is. And he has a lot of power!

Patrick Zircher: I jumped ahead and designed a model sheet for Sultan Magus as Jeff was plotting the stories and, I think, that added momentum to what we're creating. At least I hope it did-- like having the actor locked in and cast for the movie you want to write and shoot.

IGN: Patrick, what are the challenges in drawing a character like Hulk?

Zircher: The Hulk demands space on the page but the pages, like any other books, are there to tell a story. You can almost never get too 'big' when drawing the Hulk. So the challenge is to get across his size and mass and deliver the essentials and subtleties of the story too.

IGN: Obviously big scale action goes hand-in-hand with the Hulk. As a creative team, how do you guys block out the action? Is that left for you to interpret or does Jeff offer a pretty specific vision?

Zircher: The scripts are extremely workable and wonderfully paced. Jeff absolutely knows his stuff. Still, the freedom to manipulate a scene, whether it's action-oriented or conversational, with more or fewer panels is there. Sometimes I use that freedom, sometimes not. But just having it makes a difference. It makes me a happier, more creative guy.

Parker: Patrick knows he can change my scenes to make them have more impact or subtlety, and he's good enough to explain his changes so I can rewrite dialogue to fit it all better! It's very collaborative.

IGN: The info Marvel released calls this Red Hulk's "most personal" journey yet. Can you speak to that at all?

Parker: This is a huge story for us, and it pushes the borders of the Marvel Universe out farther to bring in more of the world. I want to thank Marvel for letting us touch on some subjects others might find too risky- I think it gives us the most story potential.